Came with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens, which was eventually returned along with the body to the manufacturer

Later purchased replacement for broken Canon 50mm f/1.8 as well as Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM and Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM.

Also used with rented Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (See: night and day)

Electrical problems twice, flash problem once, eventually returned to Canon as defective

Canon 5D Mark II semi-professional digital SLR

Replacement for dead Rebel XS

Each camera was of considerable use, and taught me something about photography. The general pattern has been buying an entry-level version of some sort of camera and eventually replacing it with one or more superior successors. In each case, the transition to a new class of camera has been more important than subsequent upgrading within the class – that goes for going from P&S to SLR, going from film to digital, and going from digital P&S to digital SLR.

Best value for money: the A570 IS

The camera I learned the most from: either the MX Super or the Rebel XS

Most fun to use: all the SLRs

Biggest savings anchor: the 5D Mark II, which cost as much as all the previous cameras put together

At some point, I would like to try either a 35mm or a digital rangefinder, as well as medium format film.

You, possibly by accident, have an excellent HD video kit – the best glass and (in everything but low light, although perhaps aftermarket noise reduction software would reduce the difference between the 5Dmk2 and the Nikon 3Ds) the best current video DSLR. Do you have any plans to shoot a video project?

I’ve found point and shoots and SLR’s both very fun to shoot with. The advantage of point and shoots is that you can carry them with you always. SLR’s are king for blurring backgrounds, action, and low light.

The most important thing, I find, is actually having my camera with me, and being willing to use it.

I like SLRs because they are so intentional. While a point and shoot camera allows you to tweak aperture, shutter speed, white balance, etc an SLR actually makes doing so quick and intuitive enough that you do it for every shot.

With the A570, downloading photos into iPhoto was a slow process that usually required all other applications to be closed. When I upgraded from my old G4 iBook to my 2.8GHz dual core iMac, downloading images from the A570 and even the Rebel XS became screaming fast.

With the 5D, I am back to the process being a bit slow and patchy – with music and web browsers in the background not recommended. I can only imagine what it would be like if I was shooting RAW.

35mm SLRs peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Everything since then has simply been piling-on fluff features in order to sell more 35mm SLRs to gadget-hounds.

Digital SLRs are now mature as of 2010. That’s why Nikon hasn’t introduced even one new DSLR at any time this decade.

There will always be more cameras coming, even if in kidding below I noticed that it seems like Nikon has given up.

By being declared “mature,” this means that DSLRs are as good as they are going to get. Sure, there will always be incremental improvements, but along with each small actual improvement will come many more needless features which merely clutter operation.

Ten years ago, when Nikon started to ship the world’s first practical DSLR in volume, the Nikon D1, it was primitive. Resolution was barely enough to get a decent 8×10″ print. Custom functions were just numbers, so you needed to carry a conversion card to figure them out. The D1’s sensor was only a fraction of the correct size. Highlights looked awful because they clipped at about zone VI 1/2. The D1’s huge battery only lasted a couple of hundred shots — on a good day — so you had to pack several.

With Nikon’s D3s, D700 and Canon’s 5D Mark II, we have mature products. They do exactly what we need them to and there are only small ways to improve them, and those small ways aren’t technical, but merely ergonomic.